Thomson's Aeolian Harp, 1809 (oil on canvas)

A view overlooking the River Thames from Richmond Hill. There are three loose groupings of figures in the foreground to the right, some near a golden harp mounted on a pedestal, others sitting around a stone plinth amongst classical ruins. The group of three barefoot female dancers holding hands in a ring are the Three Graces, and the four females who are decorating the harp are The Four Seasons. They all wear 18th-century classical dress. On the harp s pedestal is carved the name THOMSON . He was a poet who in 1748 published An Ode on Aeolus's Harp, and was also famous for his poem The Four Seasons.